Device to Inject Foods with Solid Objects

ABSTRACT

A device to inject solid materials into foods comprising a piston, a sleeve, and a penetrating tip. Embodiments are described with both segmented and unitary sleeves. Deformation of the tip during storage is minimized by biasing members which withdraw the piston from the tip when an embodiment is not in use. A method is described for flavoring foods with solid objects.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/705,331,filed Nov. 10, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,681,494, issued Mar. 23, 2010,which is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 10/375,220,filed Feb. 27, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,840,161, issued Jan. 11, 2005,which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/891,915, filed Jun.26, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,578,470, issued Jun. 17, 2003, which areherein incorporated by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention is directed towards a device which injects foodswith solid materials.

2. Background of the Invention

There are several devices in prior U.S. patent art which inject foodswith solid materials. Among these are: U.S. Pat. No. 1,155,139 whichteaches a device for curing, spicing and seasoning meats. This devicehas a segmented pointed tip which penetrates the meat in a closedconfiguration and then opens to allow solid materials to be injectedwithin the meat.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,211,160 teaches a device for injecting solid spices andliquids into meats prior to cooking. The device comprises a pointed slugwhich caps a cylindrical tube which is filled through a reservoir withthe ingredients to be injected. The slug penetrates the meat followed bythe cylindrical tube. The slug then precedes the tube allowing theingredients to enter the meat. The slug and the tube are then removedfrom the meat under spring pressure.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,703,688 discloses yet another device to inject fillingswithin sandwiches. This device works on a similar principle to the onedisclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,155,139.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,117,467 shows a device which injects stuffings intomeats. A pointed square tube containing a sliding cylindrical piston isdescribed. The piston forces the stuffings through the tube and into theinterior of the meat.

Each of these devices has shortcomings which may include, but are notlimited to: difficulty in cleaning, inconvenient apparatus filling,complexity in use, and difficult fabrication.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments utilizing the present inventions may have an elongatedsleeve containing a piston which tracks the inner wall of the sleeve andmoves longitudinally within it. Capping one end of the sleeve is anopening segmented point. The piston may move within the sleeve to apoint where one end of the piston is within the segmented point and isexposed through the point which is opened by piston pressure.

The sleeve may be unitary or may be divided into two or more parts, eachconnected by a screw type thread or by other means. Loading materials tobe injected into foods may be accomplished by disassembling the sleeveand placing materials to be injected within one of the sleeveconstituents, or by removing the piston and loading materials throughone end of the sleeve, or by loading materials through a window in theside of the sleeve. In any case, materials are injected by the pistonforcing materials within the sleeve out through the segmented pointwhile the point is within the food being injected.

One or more resilient members bias the piston to withdraw from withinthe opened segmented point, which results in the segmented point beingrelaxed in a closed, not straining, position when the device is not inuse.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a rear perspective of a first embodiment of the presentinventions.

FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a rear perspective exploded view of the embodiment shown inFIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a cross-section, as indicated in FIG. 1, taken through theembodiment shown in FIG. 1 with the piston inserted into the sleeve butnot depressed.

FIG. 4 a is an enlargement of a portion of FIG. 4 as indicated in FIG.4.

FIG. 5 is also a cross-section taken through the embodiment shown inFIG. 1 with the piston depressed.

FIG. 5 a is an enlargement of a portion of FIG. 5 as indicated in FIG.5.

FIG. 6 is a rear perspective exploded view of a second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a rear perspective exploded view of a third embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a forward perspective view of a design variant of the piston.

FIG. 8 a is an enlargement of a section of FIG. 8 as indicated in FIG.8.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIGS. 1 through 5 a, a first embodiment of the presentinventions comprises piston 20, upper sleeve 22, lower sleeve 24 whichincludes integral segmented tip 26, and finger grip nut 28.

FIG. 3 shows an exploded view of the assembly of these parts. FIGS. 1and 2 show exterior views of the first embodiment, and FIGS. 4 through 5a show sections taken through the first embodiment.

Each of the constituent parts of the first embodiment may be made by anysuitable manufacturing means. As an example, and not by way of anylimitation, each of the parts could be injection molded out ofpolypropylene, polycarbonate, or other suitable material.

Piston 20 is essentially a pair of orthogonally crossed ribs withseveral orthogonal disks spaced along its length and capping both itsends. Capping disk 30 acts as a finger pressure applicator to piston 20.Intermediate disks 40 may also be used to apply finger pressure topiston 20. Capping disk 32 presses against materials to be injected.

Upper sleeve 22 is essentially cylindrical tube 38 with attachmentthreads 34 at one end and finger holds 36 at its opposite end.

Lower sleeve 24 is essentially a cylindrical tube with conical entry 42at one end and integral segmented tip 26 at its opposite end.

Finger grip nut 28 contains internal threads 46 which cooperate withattachment threads 34 to attach nut 28 to upper sleeve 22. Finger gripnut 28 may be knurled or contoured around its outer periphery to providea better hand grip.

Lower sleeve 24 is attached to upper sleeve 22 by being trapped betweenfinger grip nut 28 and upper sleeve 22 (see FIGS. 4 through 5 a).

When capping disk 32 forces open segmented tip 26, resilient members 54and 56 act in cooperation with conical entry 42 to withdraw capping disk32 from forcing open segmented tip 26 once finger pressure is relaxedfrom capping disk 30 (see FIGS. 4 through 5 a). This withdraw is alsoaided by segmented tip 26 pressing sloping surfaces against capping disk32. This in turn results in less stress on the embodiment due tosegmented tip 26 being closed when the embodiment is not in use.

This internal biasing to remove capping disk 32 from segmented tip 26 isfacilitated by lower sleeve 24 being a smaller diameter than uppersleeve 22 which allows for conical entry 42 to exist.

Piston tapers 58 by contacting conical entry 42 prevent the end ofpiston 20 from traveling too far downward.

Piston 20 may be inserted into upper sleeve 22 through upper sleeveentry opening 48. Enlarged disc 50 has a greater diameter than otherintermediate disks and cooperates with annular protrusion 52 to snap fitpiston 20 within upper sleeve 22 and lower sleeve 24.

When disposed within sleeves 22 and 24, piston 20 may traverse freely upand down with a loose fit, which may be friction free enough to allowpiston 20 to move under force of gravity alone up and down the sleeves.

At one end of such a movement, capping disk 32 may contact segmented tip26 and under pressure from plunger 20 may force segmented tip 26 toopen. If materials to be injected are in front of capping disk 32, theymay also force segmented tip 26 to open.

Annular protrusion 52 acting in cooperation with enlarged disc 50prevent piston 20 from accidentally being removed from upper sleeve 22while still allowing piston 20 to be snapped free from upper sleeve 22when force is added.

In use, finger grip nut 28 is removed from upper sleeve 22 by unscrewinginternal threads 46 from engagement with attachment threads 34, andlower sleeve 24 is then detached from upper sleeve 22. Materials to beinjected are then placed within lower sleeve 24 and lower sleeve 24 isthen reattached to upper sleeve 22 by reversing the above describedprocess.

Plunger 20 is then inserted into upper sleeve 22 through upper sleeveentry opening 48. Segmented tip 26 is then inserted into the food to beinjected and finger pressure is applied to capping disk 30 resulting inthe materials to be injected moving through lower sleeve 24 and into thefood. Segmented tip 26 is then withdrawn from the food. This process maybe repeated as often as is necessary to fully flavor the food asdesired. Cleanup of the embodiment is facilitated by lower sleeve 24being detachable from upper sleeve 22 resulting in greater accessibilityto the interior of the embodiment.

Alternatively to load the embodiment, lower sleeve 24 may remainattached to upper sleeve 22 and piston 20 may be removed from uppersleeve 22 and materials to be injected inserted through upper sleeveentry opening 48 followed by plunger 20 being reinserted into uppersleeve 22. The injection procedures remain the same as described above.

Foods may be flavored by injecting flavor adding solid objects into themsuch as (only by way of example and not by any way of limitation):sun-dried tomatoes, olives, garlic, chopped onions, spices includingparsley, rosemary, peppermint, and sage, hickory smoke; sugar, rocksugar, brown sugar, frosting, salt, rock salt, MSG, carrots, radishes,capers, ham, cheese, and many others.

To have foods flavored by solid objects a procedure may be used where anembodiment is loaded as described above, and then inserted into thefood. The solid objects are then injected into the food and theembodiment is removed from the food and the food is then cooked andlater eaten.

An additional step may be added by creating an insertion point for theembodiment by first penetrating the food with the tip of a knife.

FIG. 6 shows a second alternative embodiment which is identical to thefirst preferred embodiment except that the finger nut is integrated withlower sleeve and the segmented tip to form an integrated tip 60.

FIG. 7 shows a third alternative embodiment which joins the integratedtip from FIG. 6 with the upper sleeve to form a unitized sleeve 62. Thisembodiment does not allow the lower sleeve (formerly referred to as 24)to be removed from the upper sleeve (formerly referred to as 22), andthus must be filled using only the second procedure described above,that of removing the piston and loading the embodiment through uppersleeve entry opening 48.

FIGS. 8 and 8 a show a modification to piston 20 where resilient members54 and 56 are replaced with resilient members 64 and 66 which had beenstrengthened by expanding them vertically up and down and attaching theforward ends of resilient members 64 and 66 to disk 68 by means ofspringing members 70 and 72. This both strengthens the resilient membersand provides more pressure for withdrawing capping disk 32 fromsegmented tip 26.

Besides being used for injecting flavors into foods, the embodiments maybe used for other purposes. As examples, and not by way of anylimitation, gravel might be injected into Styrofoam to enhance soundblocking, or fertilizer might be injected into the soil of houseplants.Embodiments also might be used for other reasons in cooking such asinjecting sloppy Joe materials into unsliced bread, or injecting cheeseinside of hamburgers to make cheese filled cheeseburgers.

1. A method for injecting objects into a food article comprising thesteps of: loading an injection device with a volume of desired objects,the device comprising: a hollow sleeve; a penetrating tip at an end ofthe sleeve, the tip having a first closed position and a second openposition with the open position allowing materials within the sleeve toexit the hollow sleeve through the tip; and a piston slidably disposedwithin the sleeve, wherein the piston displaces solid materials withinthe sleeve to move the tip into the second open position to enable thesolid materials to exit through the tip; and inserting the device intothe food article and displacing the piston to displace the volume ofdesired objects disposed within the sleeve into the food article.
 2. Themethod as recited in claim 1 wherein the objects comprise solidmaterials.
 3. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the device andcomprises a biasing member urging movement of the piston away fromproximity of the tip when the piston is positioned within the sleeve tomove the tip into the second open position.
 4. The method as recited inclaim 1 wherein the device includes one or more features positionedalong an outside surface to enable holding the device by hand.
 5. Themethod as recited in claim 4 wherein the features are positioned alongan outside surface of the sleeve and comprise one or more finger holdsprojecting outwardly therefrom.
 6. The method as recited in claim 1wherein the piston includes an end that projects outwardly from thesleeve for manual operation by hand contact.
 7. The method as recited inclaim 1 wherein the tip comprises a segmented conical point.
 8. Themethod as recited in claim 1 wherein the sleeve has two different crosssections.
 9. A food injection device for introducing food objects into afood article, the device comprising: a first plunger; a second plungerslidably disposed in a hollow sleeve, wherein the second plunger is incontact with the first plunger; and a penetrating tip disposed on an endof the sleeve, the tip being configured to both pierce a food articlebeing injected and pass food objects from the sleeve through the tip andinto the pierced food article.
 10. The device as recited in claim 9wherein the first plunger is pushed by hand against the second plungerto displace food objects within the sleeve.
 11. The device as recited inclaim 9 wherein the tip comprises a movable member for retaining foodobjects within the sleeve.
 12. The device as recited in claim 9 furthercomprising an additional hollow sleeve having the first plunger slidablydisplaced therein.
 13. A device for injecting food objects into a foodarticle comprising: a first hollow sleeve accommodating a volume of foodobjects therein; a tip positioned at one end of the sleeve andcomprising a moving member to control the passage of the food objectstherethrough; a first plunger disposed in the first hollow sleeve topush food objects through the sleeve and through the tip; and activationmeans to move the first plunger through the first hollow sleeve.
 14. Thedevice as recited in claim 13 wherein the activation means includes asecond plunger in contact with the first plunger.
 15. The device asrecited in claim 13 wherein the tip is configured to pierce a foodarticle.